A fabric conveyor system of the above-described kind is known from DE-A-38 44 581.
Such fabric conveyor systems are frequently used in automatic textile machines of all kinds. In such systems it is most important to guide the textile goods precisely to and between the work stations, in order to avoid irregularities. These irregularities can occur due to the slippage of the textile goods between the guides, but also due to the slippage of the smooth belt from its drive disk. When textile goods are referred to here, generally we include in the definition any kind of flat goods made of any material such as textile, plastic, cardboard, etc.
Special difficulties are encountered in guiding textile webs when the thickness of these webs varies. The slippage of the drive belt from its drive disk results in uneven belt speeds, which in turn produce irregularities in the goods at the work station. When the belt portion between the guide rollers sags, variations in the contact pressure on the textile web occur over lengths of several meters.
From DE-A-38 44 581 a fabric conveyor system is known in which a smooth, flat belt is used as a continuous conveyor.
In this system, it is possible that slippage can occur between the guide or driving rollers and the belt, which can lead to irregularities in the guidance of the material.
Furthermore, this construction requires a pressure means, which presses the smooth face of the conveyor belt against the workpiece. For this purpose in a boxlike hollow profile a pressure means in the form of an inflatable pressure hose is provided, which can act upon a pressure-transmitting member consisting for instance of elements subdivided in the longitudinal direction. This element subdivided in longitudinal direction can be formed by a band element having individual segments connected to each other by elastic webs. As already described above, this arrangement does not insure a slippage-free entrainment between the guide or driving rollers and the endless belt of the continuous conveyor.
In addition considerable manufacturing and structural expenses are related to the arrangement of the pressure-medium-actuatable hose, including the pressure member actuated by the hose. Also the adjustment to the variable thickness of the running textile web or the like may not be satisfactory. In earlier systems it has been proposed to provide several pressure hoses as pressure elements which can be differently actuated. However this allows only an insufficient degree of adjustment of the individual segments of the pressure-transmitting element.
Hence it is essential for the individual elements of the pressure-transmitting member not to be in fact separate elements, but at least elements connected to each other by elastic webs.